Gilliam started out crafting wacky animations, while Depp got his break as a TV heartthrob. Still, the creative minds were destined to intersect.
If you were to just look at the beginning of their careers, Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp seemingly had completely opposite trajectories. Gilliam started out crafting wacky animations for the British comedy troupe Monty Python in the late ’60s, while Depp got his big break as an ’80s heartthrob thanks to 21 Jump Street. However, a study of their later work clearly shows how the two creative minds were ultimately destined to intersect.
Gilliam went on to become a director of feature films, and made a name for himself in Hollywood by creating surreal, visually captivating sci-fi and fantasy films like Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and 12 Monkeys. When Johnny Depp completely transformed for Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands in 1990, it showed his willingness to challenge himself creatively and foreshadowed the oddball roles that he would take on later in his career. While they haven’t worked with each other often, Gilliam’s imaginative mind and Depp’s ability to be right at home in strange cinematic worlds have helped the two resonate as an impactful collaborative duo. Here’s a brief look at the creative partnership between Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp first teamed up in 1998 for Gilliam’s adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Written in gonzo journalism style, the story follows the drug-induced hijinks of Raoul Duke (a fictionalized version of Thompson himself) and Dr. Gonzo (based on Oscar Zeta Acosta, an attorney and activist who became friends with Thompson) as they make their way through Sin City. Depp wasn’t the first choice to play Duke, but after he met with Thompson, the author became convinced that Depp was the only actor who could best encapsulate the role. Benicio del Toro was ultimately cast as Dr. Gonzo, and the rest is history.
While Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was a box office disaster that received mixed critical reviews, Depp’s performance earned him a Best Foreign Actor award from the Russian Guild of Film Critics, and Gilliam received a Palme d’Or nomination at the Cannes Film Festival for his skilled directing. The movie went on to become a cult classic, and launched a lasting friendship between Gilliam and Depp.
The next feature-film collaboration between the actor and director to see the light of day (we’ll get into the failed collaboration that happened in between in a little bit) came in 2009 with The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. The fantasy film, which tells the story of a theater troupe leader who makes a bet with The Devil, takes him on a journey through a bizarre dream world, starred Heath Ledger in the lead role of Tony Shepard. Sadly, Ledger died from a drug overdose halfway through filming, leading Gilliam to cast Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law as different transformations of Shepard. As it turns out, Depp was Gilliam’s first call, not only because of Depp and Ledger’s friendship and the physical similarities between the two, but also because Ledger had actually channeled Depp for his initial performance, which Gilliam touched on during a 2009 interview with CBS News.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was better received both commercially and critically than Gilliam and Depp’s first outing, as it grossed $64.4 million on a $30 million budget and earned two Academy Award nominations (Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction).